Fine Art Gallery

Mesa Verde

The Watercolors of Dwight Lawing

September 15 - October 10, 2006

Opening Reception:
September 15, from 6 to 8 p.m.

The San Juan College Art Gallery will present its latest installation "Mesa Verde" featuring the watercolors of Dwight Lawing, September 15 to October 10. The exhibit will open with a reception on September 15, from 6 to 8 p.m. Lawing's works are being displayed as part of the San Juan College Fine Arts Committee Artist Invitational.

Dwight's introduction to art was on a sixth grade field trip to the Los Angeles Museum of Art. At that moment he knew that he could paint. "I had little encouragement," he says, "but the passion was there."

It wasn't until the 1960s, while seeking a distraction from a disintegrating marriage, that he enrolled in night classes at the Los Angeles Art Center. The paintings seemed to flow from his brush, but as the marriage fell apart so did his desire to paint.

Lawing remarried in 1982. "Anna became my best friend. One night I came home from work and she informed me that she had enrolled me in a watercolor class. I had studied oil, acrylic - everything except watercolor. The first year was an uphill battle." A battle until he realized that watercolor was just a series of tricks. "Anyone can learn a trick," he says. Watercolors have become the most exciting medium he had ever worked in. His paintings are displayed across the United States, Mexico and Europe.

Lawing teaches at San Juan College and in his studio in Farmington. He helps his students by enlightening them with the tricks of the trade.

Fine Arts Committee Artist Invitational

There will be a drawing for a watercolor by Dwight as a fundraiser for the Fine Arts Committee. The painting is valued at $1000.00 and is a framed original watercolor. The suggested donation is $5.00 per ticket. The drawing will be held throughout the exhibit, a winner will be announced October 10th.